Airplane



Sept. 15, 1931. J. P. GLAsBY 1,823,735

AIRPLANE Filed Dec. 1'7',v 1927 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 15, 1931 f JONATHAN?. GLAsBY, onvnnonn, NEW JERSEY nrit'Pitman` i Appncation vfiled,'December 17, iazvfserial 1\Ip'.i240,654j. A i I ThiShventionre-iaes broadly to aircraft and more particularly to heavier than air/ma-l chines which are adaptedfto start *from and return to the surface of the water."y y p V The present invention is directedprimarily to hydro-airplanes which' embody accepted principles of control in flight and which are capable of attaining relatively high rates of speed, but which can'be operated with practically all of the dangers of present day flying eliminated. vSuch planes, as herein contemplated, may be used to teach some of the principles of flying but are designed primarily withk the thought in view of aording a craft capable of attaining a high rate of speed yat.y or near the surface of' the water so that it canbe used for speed by .persons unskilled in flying or by` children in the same manner thathydroplanes are Vused at the present time. y f

The air propeller is 'relied' upon in ypresent practice to propel an aircraft through the air. Such apropeller, whirling inan exposed po-y sition on the craft, is one of its most danger-v 2. ous features, especially Where the craft is'to be used by other than highly trained fliers. The lpresent invention, therefore, has for its object a craft designed along airplaneV lines which may rise from and descend to the water but which is incapable of attaining a dangerous altitude and which avoids lthe use ofV an air propeller. To this endthe craft is provided with a water propeller-and they propeller shaft is preferably extensible so' that the propeller may remain in theV water even though the craft leaves the surface thereof. The prime mover of this craft maybe of any convenient character, and, if desired, may take the form of the usual outboard-motor which is relatively an inexpensive source of power.

- The invention also seeks practical means for maintaining the vpropeller in the water at any desired distance below the plane so as" to make it impossible to'gain suc-h an altitude as to become dangerous in case yof accidents or tail spin, for instance. v f i These and other objects of theinvention and themeans for their attainment will be more apparent fromthe followingdetailed description ltaken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment by which the invention may be realized and inwhich: lFigure 1- is 'a view showing a flying-boat 55 providedwith a water propeller and resting on the surface of the water. l Y

Figure 2 is a view showing the same boatl in motion and risen above the surface of the watenf. v 'i760 n the illustrated embodiment the craft is shown as provided with the hull 10 of avliying boat having a single lifting surfaceor wing 1l suitably mounted, as by the struts l2, on

the hull. Thishull carries the usual airplane y rudder 13 and elevator la and in addition is equipped with a'rudder lfor use below the surface when the craft is travellinglon the water. The craft illustrated is used by way of example only and any vehicle having a structure such that itfis capable of rising from and returning to the waterisv within the pur- View ofthe invention.

l- The prime mover of the craft is indicated at 2O and may convenientlybe dis'posed'with-V 75 inthe hull 10 to be immovably fixed therein or to be itself elevated and depressed for a purpose more apparent hereinafter. At the forward rend. o f' the 'crankshaft 21 of lthe prime mover 2O there is showna bevelgear 80 22'meshing with a bevel gear 30"mounted to be always in, kmesh lwith the bevel gear 22. The, bevel` gear 30 vis mounted for sliding movement with respect tobut for rotation with averticalpropeller 'shaft 3l which is 85. slidablefrom the position shown in Figure l when 'the craft rests on the lsurface of the water tothe position shown in Figure'2 when the craft'is flying above the surfacef' The` propellershaft and hence the propeller is'dis- 90 posed substantially inthe transverse vertical plane including'thecenter of lift of the wings; It is well understood that the maximum lift of a lifting surface or wing is approximately one third the distance in rear of the front edge of the wing, and it will be seen upon inspection of the drawings that .the vertical propeller lshaftv .31 is locatedsubstantiallyin a transverse vertical planeflncludingy this point.' Bythis'f disposition,` the thrust of the 100 propeller occurs at that point which is un-V eiected by the elevation or depression of the tail, so that when the hull is pointlng downwardly toward the water or pointing upwardly therefrom the relative position ofthe propeller with respect to the surface of the Y water is not altered. Similarly in turning to theright or to the left, the thrustof the propeller is not affected by the change 1n dij. rection of the hull and the propeller shaft lies in what is, in retient, thefverticalf'axis 'i vabout which the hull turns.

It will also be observed that the propel-ler shaft is located just in roar of the beginning of the step 1-7 whereby theforwardpo'rtion of., the bottom Y.ofthe hull ,presenten surface unbroken any projections jor apertures,

` say, for the passage of the `propellershaft.V

VThis `construction Y reduces all possible'- re- 2 sistancefto the progress ofthe boat in planing on the surface of the Water, it being recognized that the 'surface betweenv the prow and the step is the planing surface. j At Lits lower end propeller shaft 3l carries the water propeller 32 which is driven thereby by lsui-t'-v able driving connections contained within a.

suitable housing 33 mou-ntedl-onthe lower end of a telescoping extensiblesupport 34 there- Van for.Y The propeller 16 isfloweredrfrom its fin osition-shown in Figure l to its out7 position shown in AFigure2 in any convenient fashion, say, by moans of a lhand wheel/10 adjacentfthe cockpit 16. About a sprocket '41 rotated by the handvwhe'el 140 a continuous chain 42 may pass whichalso'passesgabout a sprocket 43 or theequivalent carried naar the upper vportion of fthe hull vand a :similar sprocket 44 adjacent thegearing22., The upper end of propeller shaiftl iS. ,journalled in va bearing 3.5 whchpis secured to the chain l2-so that rotation ofthe hand Whileelk 40, `Say in a clockwise direction, which of course, causes the travel of the chain 42 in a Similar direction, will. :Cause the :propeller shaft to travel -downwardly carrying with it the bearing 35to project the propeller 32 vtoout. position. Of coursefthe reverse movement of the wheel will .cause the. travel of; the protingstill higher speeds to be-fattained. At Y a predetermined speed the craft will `tend to leave the water and travel above its surfae so long as this speed or a greater one is maintained. In order to maintain this .speed the propeller is projected downwardly so as to remain inoperative position vwithin.' the water; O'f coursel so soon as vthat rate of speed is attained which will carry the craft to an altitude above that permitting the propeller in its out position to have traction in the water, the speed of the craft will decrease'and it will again settle back to that point at which thepropeller is in the water. Thus the V altitude of thefcraftabove the water is limitedto'that which is relatively slk. To limit the altitude the degree of projection of the propeller shaft may be adjusted.

'It willthushe seen'thnt a ,craft is provided which is capable of attaining high rates of by travelling just on the surface ofthe water orjust above its 4surface'and that this )speed will be ar in 'excess of that of boats equipped with hydvroplane hulls. v This Kraft is moreover an extremely safe one yso tliatjfit can belpuft in the hands of younger Vpeopl'in lieuofthe Ahydrcg planes newv used since it cannot risel to af-height sucient -berd'lngerous. in flight and there is moreover .no fair propeller likelyto injure the occupants 44of the craft. .Itcan be readil seen that the' operators altitude isllimite to the distance ofthe length of the in and out limitsof the adjustable propellershaft. ,In lieu of the adjustable propeller shaft the resent outboard motor ma be used. n this event it is obviousv that t e. entire motor may be moved up and down,`to the in and out positions, 'and that other arrangementsmay be availedof to attain thesame result such asy the relatively horzontalshafts usedom present day'c'raffts 'which may be elevated and depressed by suitable means. v

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the'art in thety e of `'aircraft to which this invention is app icableas well as in the 'type of prime mover and dis Sition of propeller shaft and no limitation is intended except as set out in the appended claims. What I claim is: 1. aircraft having a flying boat hull, wings for `flying through the airfandfa Water propeller disposedsubstantially in the 'transf verse vvertical plane of -the center of lift of the wings, l

i 2. Inl combination, a .streamline lyingboat hul-l having aforward planing surf-ace and .a

`step rearwardly thereof, a lift-ing Surface, u

prime mover, a` vertical propeller shaft m tatedthereby and.V protruding through the hull justin rea-r kof the planing surface and step, and means to adjust the propeller lshaft vertically in la plurality ofdriving positions.

3. In a craft ofthe character described, in combination, a h ull adapted to float `upon the, water., and vhaving `a planing surface, a lifting vsurface whereby the craft Vmay 'Hy through the air, `a prime mover, awater prepeller as the only propelling moans for the craft, and'voperable connections between tho prime mover and the propeller rearwardly yof the planingisurfaee and including means to maintainthe propeller in the water irreepoc- .iis

tive of Whether the aircraft is floating on the water or flying through the air.

4. In an aircraft, inl combination, a boat hull having a planing surface, a lifting surface, a prime mover, a shaft rotated thereby and disposed rearwardly of the planing surface, a water propeller, means to maintain the propeller axis substantially parallel to the line of flight of the craft, operative connec-` tions between the shaft and propeller, and means to adjust the propeller in a plurality of driving positions in a vertical direction.

5. In a craft, in combination, a hull having surfaces for iiying through the air, a water propeller as the only propelling means for the craft, and means to adjust the propeller in a substantially vertical direction to permit the hull to leave the water while the propeller remains therein.

7. In a craft of the character described, a hull, a lifting surface whereby the craft may fly through the air, a water propeller as the only propelling means for the craft, means to maintain the axis of the propeller substantially parallel to the line of flight, and means to adjust the propeller in a substantially vertical direction to permit the hull to leave the water while the propeller remains therein.

8. In an aircraft, in combination, a. water propeller as the only propelling means for the aircraft, and means to adjust the propeller toward or away from the aircraft while maintaining said propeller substantially 'always in the same straight line to permit the aircraft to leave the water while the propeller remains therein.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

JONATHAN P. GLASBY. 

